Unforgiving Circumstances
by Fiction Lyre
Summary: After a small relationship, Olivia gets pregnant with her son Evan. Years later someone from the past comes back to threaten the safety of her and Evan, inevitably revealing his paternity she desperately tried to hide. It's a race to see if the squad can find the perp before something happens. Set season 16. Slightly A/U. First Fic.
1. Setting the Scene

**So this is my first fanfic so constructive and supportive criticism welcome.**

 **I own no right to any of the SVU character.**

 **Set during mid-season 16, Lewis never happened in this story just to be clear.**

* * *

1-6th Precinct

February 21, 2015

3:43 PM

A knock startled her thoughts as Fin poked his head into her office. "What's up?" She quickly placed the photo inside her desk and gave up her search for a damn paperclip.

Fin started into the office with a file in his hand, "We got a hit on the DNA found on Amelia's body. A named Robert Hunt, he's a security guard who had a run-in with a local junkie not too long ago on the job, they had to do a report but in the end, it was justified." He handed her the file that contained the lab results as well as his arrest report.

"Well then why don't you take Rollins and you two go pick him up for questioning," she flipped through some pages. "Says he works downtown for Sterling Security, check the place out, see if it's legit or just a cover," she responded looking up from the file. He seemed like a regular guy, a few parking tickets and the one assault allegation, but other than that no serious crimes.

Fin nodded, "Ok and what if he doesn't want to talk?"

Her expression hardened and she cocked an eyebrow, "Improvise." He smiled in return and gave a small laugh, "that's what I like to hear." He walked out of her office as she shook her head. In the distance, she could hear Fin call for Amanda to load up. They walked out together as she began to scan over the file.

Olivia Benson blew out a breath as she looked around her office, it was still a strange feeling to be sitting here even though Cragen had left long ago. It all seemed surreal, she had everything she could possibly want. It was now her squad and no longer the squad she was just a part of.

She began searching through her drawer for a paperclip to keep the papers within the file as she looked through it. She kept shifting stuff around and found almost everything but a paperclip. Instead, her fingers settled upon a picture. Slowly, knowing exactly what picture it was, she slipped it from her desk to look at it. Olivia's eyes scanned over all the faces from her former squad members. They had just closed a case and were catching a drink at the typical cop bar down the block. On the right Fin and Munch were holding up their glasses as some sort of toast to their big win, as Casey sat next to Munch with a simple smile upon her face. Captain Cragen was sitting back in his chair holding a glass of club soda looking serious among the smiling crowd.

Finally, Elliot and Olivia sat at the left end of the red booth laughing at a joke Elliot whispered into her ear right before the picture was snapped. She traced her finger over his face and continued to stare at them. These were the glory days for her, she had no responsibilities besides her job. She was free to take risks and not worry about who she pissed off or who shot at her, and more importantly no one who she had to call home to.

* * *

Sterling Security

4:00 PM

Fin took in the atmosphere of the building as him and Rollins walked up the front steps. "Seems legit," huffed Fin. Amanda looked over at him and stopped for a second to take in the business as well. The stone steps and front, as well as the gold-trimmed doors, told them this was a qualified place for business. "I mean considering where we are, I'd say that it's pretty legit. Pimps don't hang around these parts of town." The rich atmosphere seemed highly prevalent in the surrounding neighborhood of huge houses and expensive cars on the streets. They continued to climb the steps and walked into the front door.

When they entered the receptionist straightened up and greeted them with a smile, "how can I help you today?"

"We're looking for a Robert Hunt, is he working today?"

"May I ask what this is regarding?" her smile never faded and the remark seemed innocent enough. Fin removed his badge and held it up into her view, "Police matter ma'am, we just need to ask him a few questions." He then put his badge back, she nodded in understanding then picked up the phone. She spoke quietly with the other person on the phone and after a few exchanges hung up.

"He is in his office, if you want to follow me I'll show you there." She stood from her desk and lead the pair to an office down the hall.

"This is his office if you need anything else just let me know." With that, she started back down the hall. The pair looked at each other before Amanda knocked on the office door. It opened quickly and revealed Robert Hunt, he smiled and opened the door to let them into the well-decorated room.

"Hello detectives, how can I help you today?" He motioned for them to take a seat and closed the door once they were inside the office.

"Yes we had a few questions regarding a case, do you know an Amelia Brown?" The man had just sat down at his desk and froze then looked quickly to Amanda. He nodded slowly, "She's my uh- girlfriend you could say." Fin noticed the gold band on his left hand and nodded.

"So she was your side piece?" Fin accused. The man subconsciously rubbed his left hand and looked down in shame.

"You could say that I guess, why what happened? Is she okay? I'm supposed to meet her tonight."

"Well that won't be happening, Amelia was found dead last night two blocks down from here," Rollins stated and Hunt quickly went white.

"What? No, no that's not true, we're supposed to meet up tonight I had to tell her the good news. I don't understand," Hunt's voice began to get frantic and he ran his hands down his face. "This can't be happening," he whispered.

"Tell her what?" Fin looked up from his notes and stared hard at the man.

Robert began to tremble, "I filed for divorce. I was going to tell her tonight. Now she's...," He began to choke on his words. "Are you sure?" Tears began to form in his eyes as he looked expectantly to the men.

"We found her ID in her purse and her parents have identified the body. We're sure." In an instant, the man began to weep. "We're sorry," added Amanda. Robert began to gather himself and wiped away his tears. He took a shaky breath and clenched his fist. "Can you tell us why she would have been in this neighborhood?"

"She was here last night, she came to drop off some food, I was going to be here all night doing paperwork. I wanted to see her, so I called her."

"Is there anyone who can corroborate that?"

"No, I was here by myself, but we have security cameras everywhere around here. I can ask for the videos."

"We'll stop by your security office before we leave, and for your sake, we hope they put you here all night or we'll have a problem. What time did she come by?" Fin asked.

"She came by around 11, and left around 1."

"She was here for two hours just to drop off some food?" Fin cocked an eyebrow.

"Let's just say we did more than eat food," Hunt whispered.

* * *

1-6th Precinct

5:30 PM

"He seems legit if you ask me, Carisi is going to pick up the discs once they get them burned, but we looked them over and he was there when he said he was. So was she," Fin looked at Olivia over his notes and she had her chin resting on her hands. She sighed and straightened herself.

"Let's wait to check out the disc timestamps before we jump to conclusions, did you put surveillance on him?"

Fin nodded, "Yes, and he wasn't lying about his wife. She did, in fact, kick his ass out after he told her about the divorce last week and he's been staying with his Mom in Queens. We have a squad car placed at both in case he sneaks away." Olivia nodded her approval and began gathering her things seeing the time.

"Well since I am officially caught up on all my paperwork I'm going to head out on time for once."

"Hot date?" Fin quipped. She smiled in good humor, "If you call making dinner with a toddler a 'hot date'." She smiled thinking about him, he was the light of her life.

"How's the little guy doing now?" She proceeded to pull out her phone to show Fin a picture from a few weeks ago on their way to daycare. Her son, Evan Elijah Benson, was her little miracle. She gave up on the dream of having kids of her own years before she had gotten pregnant with him.

"He's growing like a weed, I can't believe he's getting so big," they shared a smile looking at the photo. The little boy, who just turned three, had his mother's brown wavy hair and olive complexion. He was grinning proudly with his dinosaur backpack as he stood in front of his classroom. She looked from the photo of her son and met Fin's eyes, "You know what he told me the other day?"

"What?" he laughed only imagining what this mini Benson had said.

"That he was too old for time-outs, that he'd prefer not to do them," they shared a laugh over the creative kick this kid had. "He's a mess as you know."

"Oh I know, if he's anything like his mother, you have your hands full." She playfully gave him a hard glare as she placed her bag on her shoulder. Her and Fin walked out into the bullpen together continuing their talk about Evan. She glanced up and saw Amanda still at her desk.

"Rollins, Amaro," she called. The pair turned and met her eyes. "Go home." They shared a smile and Amanda nodded in acknowledgment.

"Okay, I'm gone," she turned to her computer and begin to turn it off as Amaro began putting on his coat.

After departing from the precinct, Olivia Benson made her way down the street toward her apartment. Once she got halfway home, she began texting her nanny letting her know she'd be home earlier than usual. Olivia loved her little boy with all her heart, but SVU still held a special place inside of her. Although she would love to stay home with him all day, she needed to work or she'd probably lose her mind. Her heart couldn't believe he was three now, he was growing too fast for her heart to handle, she wanted him to stay her little boy for forever. Her walk was filled with thoughts of Evan until she reached her building. Finally, she slid her key in the door and walked in.

"Mommy!" Evan ran over to her as she placed her bag down. She gladly pulled him up in a hug, "Hey big boy! How was your day?" they shared a smile as he proceeded to tell her about his day and the pigeons in the window at daycare. Her nanny, Lucy, started gathering her things and they exchanged their goodbyes.

"Mommy, can we make noodles, please?" the little boy looked up at her with pleading eyes. She smiled and nodded.

"Yes, we can make spaghetti, my love. Just let mommy change out of these clothes and we'll make dinner," she set down Evan to let him play while she changed out of her work clothes. She quickly changed into a pair of leggings and a sweater due to the chilly night beginning outside. Once she came back they began to prepare noodles and chat about his day.

"Mommy, they bought new dinosaur toys at school and we got to play with them!"

"They did? How exciting Evan," she placed his plate in front of him at the bar and she poured a glass of wine for herself. "What did you and Lucy do after she picked you up from school?"

"We went to the museum! And I saw a police doggie," she sat across the bar as they ate together. "You did?" she stated with enthusiasm.

"Can we get a doggy?"

She smiled a bit, "I'm sorry Evan, but we can't our apartment is just big enough for us right now. Maybe when you're older."

"Like when I'm four? 'Cause that's not too far." He shoveled some pasta into his mouth.

"Well, buddy you just had a birthday, but I was thinking more like when you're 14." She laughed a little seeing him struggling to chew the insane amount of pasta he had in his mouth. "Smaller bites love, we don't want to choke our food." The little boy nodded and swallowed.

"So the same time you'll tell me about my daddy?" Olivia paused mid-bite, she forgot that she had told him that when he asked about his father. The almost exact same conversation, how could she have forgotten that? She slowly let out a breath to calm her thoughts.

"Yes, Evan, around the same time." She looked down at her food suddenly not feeling hungry anymore and started to just push her food around a bit.

"Don't play with your food mommy, that's not nice," he scolded. She smiled softly at her baby.

"Yes, my love. You're right." She hadn't thought about his father situation in a while. Of course, she saw so much of his father in Evan, but she had grown used to it by now and hadn't really thought about it. It was still a sore soft for her and she wasn't sure if there would ever be a time it wasn't. Olivia hadn't spoken to him since a week before she had found out she was pregnant with Evan. He had no idea they had a child together, but it wasn't like she didn't try. There's only so much she could do, and even then she needed to focus her attention on her unborn child. She never regretted her son, Olivia loved him dearly, she just wished things had been different.

After his bath, they spent the night reading before he needed to go to bed. After he had successfully fallen asleep she began cleaning up dinner. Olivia poured herself another glass as she began to look over her case files. After about a half-hour later her phone began to ring. She reached over to the coffee table and picked it up.

"Benson."

"Hey Sarge, they dropped off the official tapes, Hunt was telling the truth. The girl showed up at 10:52 p.m. and it shows her entering his office a minute later. They walk out together around 1 a.m. and he stood at the front door until she walked away, but immediately went back in. He then goes back to his office."

"Did you check all other exit points?"

"Yes, he didn't leave his office until four in the morning. He came in late the next day and his toll pass puts him in Queens all morning. So, there's no way he did this, she was killed about a half hour after she left his office."

She sighed heavily, "Okay, so we're back to square one then. Tomorrow I want you and Rollins to talk to his wife, surely she knew something about it. I'll send Fin and Amaro back to the security place tomorrow again, maybe canvas the neighborhood again."

"Alright Liv, I'll let you go, just thought I'd update you on the circumstances."

"Yea, thank you Carisi. Go home, get some rest."

"Alright, have a good night."

"You, too," they hung up and she went back to her case files. Eventually, she got up and went to bed. She got into bed and peered at the small photograph on her dresser. It was positioned towards the back but she could still it if she wanted to. It was a photo taken the night of the Annual NYPD/FDNY Benefit Formal. She was wearing a satin green dress, she felt so beautiful that night. Her former partner, Elliot Stabler, was embracing her from behind as they smiled brightly. Unknowingly to her co-workers, they had just begun seeing each other on the low. He'd been divorced for about a year at the time and had professed how in love with her he was. That night he had swept her off her feet and she had felt so happy. Olivia loved him with her whole heart and had never felt the love he had for her before.

After the shooting, Elliot had left that day and she hadn't heard from him since. She was heartbroken because not only was he her best friend, but the one she had given up herself freely to, only for him to walk out on her too. A week later she learned of her pregnancy, their child. Olivia called him multiple times, but he never answered her or returned her calls. She tried in vain to get ahold of him in so many ways, but eventually, she gave up the fight and started to focus on her child. He bore her name, not his, Evan was her child and no one else's. Olivia refused to give Elliot the credit of being his father when he was not even aware he existed. She had raised Evan by herself and she didn't need him anymore, but that didn't mean she didn't want him there. Unable to dwell on him any longer, she sighed heavily switching off the lamp and rolled over into a fitful sleep.

* * *

 _Olivia's Apartment_

 _Feb 2011_

 _Olivia sat on her couch nursing a glass of wine, sitting and simply thinking about what had just transpired. She had held Sonya Paxton while she died in her arms for justice. She'd never had thought of Sonya as someone who would be okay with dying that way. She, quite frankly, seemed to think that Sonya would never die. The woman seemed that she would live on forever just to piss people off._

 _What was also so weird about today was that Elliot seemed just to show up at the time she most needed him. He hugged her and she struggled to keep everything together emotionally. Olivia's legs felt like jello and she could have practically melted right there if she did not leave soon. Her mind kept traveling to the how his breath whispered in her ear. She bolted before she could make a fool of herself right there in the hallway. Only now she was making a fool of herself in the privacy of her living room, herself her only judge. She stared down into her wine glass as she swirled around the dark liquid hoping that maybe her troubles would swirl away too._

 _A sharp knock interrupted her thoughts and she seriously considered acting like she didn't hear it. She heard the visitor knock again a few seconds later, but she still didn't make a move to get up._

" _Liv?" She took in a sharp breath as she wiped any tears or mascara left under her eyes._

" _One sec," she set down her glass and walked over to the door. Olivia opened the door and simply walked away to let her guest close the door himself. "El, I'm-"_

" _Fine, yea I know," Elliot finished her statement as he closed and locked the door to her apartment. He turned towards her and walked further into her apartment. When he sat down he noticed her red eyes and flushed cheeks, his heart broke slightly._

" _How are you really doing?" She sighed and ran a hand down her face._

" _I'll be fine," she whispered and looked down from his gaze and into her lap._

" _I'm sorry I wasn't there, I should've come back," he whispered back as she started to shake her head._

" _No, El, you can't do that. That's not fair to yourself." Oliva looked up at him this time with a soft expression on her face. "Don't," she whispered looking into his eyes._

 _He nodded but didn't give any indication he actually accepted her words. They sat in silence for the better part of ten minutes before she finally cleared her throat. "How about I order some food, you hungry?"_

 _He laughed a little, "Uh yeah, I'm hungry, but I ordered Chinese food on the ride over here so it should be here soon." She looked at him with a tiny glare._

" _Of course, you did," as she broke her glare with a smirk. After the food got there they ate with light conversation. They talked about his Quantico trip and his kids, while occasionally talking about how her life was going._

" _The kids are doing really well with the divorce, I thought they would be upset, but they were more relieved. Which I'm not gonna lie, was amazing," he said taking the to-go containers back into her kitchen._

" _Well, that's great, El. I'm glad it was peaceful for all of you," she said trailing behind him with the rest._

" _Me too, and Liv thank you for being here for me while I've been all stressed and moody, really means a lot to me."_

 _He placed the containers in her fridge as she began washing the silverware in the sink. He closed the fridge door as she wiped her hands with the dish rag._

 _She turned towards him with a smile, "Of course, El, that's what partners are for."_

" _Oh, well, I mean Fin threw a pen at Munch the last time he gave him attitude," Olivia pushed him lightly and walked back into the living room as he began to laugh._

" _Okay, okay it's not a partner thing, but you're my best friend," she said sitting down. "Of course I'd be there for you."_

 _He sat down next to her as they faced towards each other. He placed his arm along the back of the couch as Olivia drew her legs under her. Elliot looked over at her and she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She looked absolutely beautiful to him, she wore hardly any makeup and was just wearing yoga pants and an NYPD t-shirt that had once been his._

" _Today, scared the hell out of Liv," he said looking down as he scratched his eyebrow. "When Cragen said there was a body, I freaked… I thought it was you."_

" _But I'm fine, Elliot. I'm a big girl." He looked up at her suddenly._

" _I know that, but still something could have happened. If that had been you… I-I don't know…" he pinched the bridge of his nose trying to ward off any emotions threatening to break loose._

" _Don't know what?" She spoke softly, leaning forward slightly._

" _I don't know what I would do if something happened to you." Her breath hitched slightly as he looked up at her, his eyes a deep blue._

" _Elliot you can't protect me from everything," he suddenly stood up and stared down at her._

" _I know I can't, but God did you even realize how dangerous this was? Why didn't you have Fin or Munch go with you?" Anger started to weave into his words._

" _Elliot, like I said I'm a big girl, I can hold my own. It was my case, she went into the girl's bathroom for God's sake," Olivia was beginning to get annoyed with his overprotective tendencies._

" _I know you're a big girl, but you have to think about more than just yourself Olivia! I wasn't there so you just decided to act stupid? I mean c'mon Liv, what were you thinking?"_

 _She stood to her feet and faced Elliot until she was eye-to-eye with him._

" _Go to hell."_

 _She went to move past him, but he caught her elbow and looked down at her, "you first dear." Before she could form a rebuttal his lips came crashing down on hers. Olivia instantly froze at the feeling of his soft lips against hers but bounced back quickly to return the kiss. Elliot slid his hand to her hip and turned her into his body. Olivia let out a groan when their bodies melted together. He could taste the bitterness of the red wine on her tongue as they battled for dominance over the kiss. Her hands fisted the back of his shirt as Elliot's other hand snaked its way into her hair. Slowly they pulled apart but their eyes stay trained on one another._

" _Liv, I'm sorry, I-I shouldn't have," their hands fell and Olivia fingered her bottom lip. "You had a rough day, I'm sorry about all of this, I just-"_

 _Her lips cut him off and it began just as heated as the last left off. Their hands began to roam places only their eyes had and the kiss deepened with every passing second. Soon enough, Elliot had Olivia pinned up against the wall in her living room as their make-out session carried on. His right hand was flattened against the wall near her head as his left hand began to creep up the bottom of her shirt. Olivia arched her back silently begging for more when his hand reached the hot skin below her bra. She moaned into his mouth as her hands hooked behind the back of his neck drawing their bodies closer._

 _His arousal was pressed into her thigh now and both then truly became aware of the situation at hand. Slowly they pulled apart, but this time there was just silent glances as realization settled between the two. He began to open his mouth but Olivia cut him off._

" _I wanted it too," she whispered softly. It was almost so soft he might not have heard it if she wasn't literally three inches away from her. Blue eyes stared hard into brown ones and silently they began to understand what was happening._

" _Liv, I'm sorry I got so mad, I just… if anything happened to you I'd never forgiven myself for it," he could feel her breath hitch against his chest. "I love you."_


	2. Why?

**Sorry, this chapter took so long, I wrote the majority of it then didn't like it. Pretty sure I rewrote this chapter like three times.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy!**

The next morning Olivia woke up to her alarm buzzing on the nightstand. Her thoughts began to wonder about the first time their feelings became aware to one another. It was the beginning of their short but deep relationship. She quickly silenced the intruding object and swung her feet over the side of the bed. Making her way towards the bathroom Olivia grabbed her phone off the charger and double checked to make sure she hadn't slept through any calls.

Her morning routine was made up of a quick shower, getting ready for work, making breakfast, then getting Evam ready for his day as well. After finishing the eggs and bacon she made her way into Evan's room to wake him up. Olivia softly sat on the edge of the bed and ran her hand through the boy's brown wavy locks.

"Good morning, my love," she said sweetly, "it's time to wake up." He groaned in response but opened his bright blue eyes. Evan rolled over onto his back as his mother smiled down at him. "Time to get up buddy, breakfast is ready for you." He yawned and sat up ready for the day.

Evan became more alert and loud as the morning went on and before long they were on their way to Evan's daycare. The cold wind gushed past them as they walked down the sidewalk. After dropping him off with promises of seeing him later she headed to work. The squad room was only half occupied by the time Olivia made it up the steps to the 1-6.

"Goodmorning," she said to Fin as Olivia poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Morning, Liv," he replied and they exchanged a smile. Later that morning, Carisi and Amanda came back from interviewing Hunt's wife, Sheila.

"She wasn't home and the manager said he hadn't seen her since last night," Rollins said as she and Sonny stood in Olivia's office.

"Even the doorman said she left around 10 pm and then never made it back," Carisi stated in agreeance.

"Does the place have security cameras?"

"We checked the footage, and we have a girl coming in the same time a girl named Elise signed in downstairs to visit her, but she leaves after about an hour. Then later we see Mrs. Hunt leaving the building, but never coming back in until around 4 AM," Amanda says looking at her notes.

"We left our card with the doorman and told him to give us a call when she shows, so far no word," Carisi says putting one hand on his hip.

Olivia took off her glasses and pinched her nose, "Okay, so go back and see if Mrs. Hunt is on any of the surveillance video surrounding the building. See if we can get anything from that, maybe she found out about the affair and wanted to get revenge. Keep in mind she is now a suspect." The two detectives nodded and got to work leaving Olivia in her office.

Sometime later Carisi knocked lightly on the open door before walking in to address his Sargent. "Okay, so I got I was looking around at the neighborhood and a block from the murder is another security company, Rollins and I were gonna go check to see if they had cameras around the building, maybe caught the perp walking away from the scene?"

"That's great, Carisi, take Amanda and you two go check it out and let me know what you find," Olivia said. Carisi nodded and walked back into the bullpen.

* * *

"I just spoke with Rollins on the phone, she said that the office is more than willing to let us have the outside footage to the building. The secretary said supposedly their manager is aware of the situation and Rollins is waiting on the tapes to get them to TARU," Olivia slides her phone into her back pocket as she and Fin looked at the board trying to piece together everything.

"Okay, so besides that here is what we have so far," Fin hangs up a picture of Sheila Hunt and writes her name beneath it for clarification. The two began going over the information they currently had on hand. Eventually, Rollins and Carisi make it back to the squad room just as Amaro returned from TARU. They quickly begin to piece together the evidence onto the board to get a clear view of everything involved.

"Okay so TARU printed out faces on the security footage during the time frame of the murder," Amaro said looking over the file. "Only three people were caught on this footage, but the images came from three blocks down. Hopefully, the new footage gives us something more solid to work with." He began sifting through the photos in the folder before placing them on the table for the others to look at.

"Facial recognition came up with three names from the DMV database; Joshua Kohl, Heather Meadows, and Quinn Goth. Kohl came back with a misdemeanor drug offense, but other than that that's all we got." He dropped the folder onto the table next to photos and looked around to the detectives. Amaro ran his hand along his chin trying to ponder up an idea of some sort. The tension was thick surrounding the table as they all were confused on how to connect the dots with Sheila still MIA.

Carisi's phone began to ring and he stepped off to the side.

"So let's run Hunt's financials to see if Sheila bought anything the night of the murder or anytime after that. Amaro, get her phone records then take Fin and you two go down and visit Mr. Hunt again, see if he's seen his wife."

Sonny strode back in "We may not have to do that, doorman just called, Sheila showed back up." Everyone in the room straightened to attention.

"Ok Rollins, Carisi go bring her in," the two nodded and quickly headed out the squad room. "Nick, Fin get her financials and phone records and let me know what you find," Benson spoke with authority feeling relieved they finally found a break.

By the end of the day, Sheila had confessed to murdering her soon-to-be ex-husband's lover and was sitting in a jail cell at Rikers awaiting arraignment. The detectives had been content to going back to their normal routines now that this case had been over with. Although this case was closed, didn't mean their work was done. The squad had several other open investigations to work on, as well as trial preps and files to update. These detectives had their fair share of overtime logged from various glimpses of the evil that walked the Earth.

Olivia was sitting in her office going over paperwork to give to Barba for an upcoming trial and combing through her emails to get caught up. Mostly DD5s to sign and meetings to set up with people who requested her attention. Duties of the job mainly were signatures, overseeing investigations, and making sure all the ducks were in the pong at least. She hears Amanda approach the door and looks up meet the blonde's eyes.

"Desk Sargeant called said that a man downstairs received a threatening letter and wanted to speak to Cragen, but…" Amanda trailed off letting the obvious be unsaid. "He said he knew him professionally or something. Didn't give a name."

"Okay, you and Fin go over it with him and then update me on if it's our jurisdiction or not. I'll call in a favor if he really is a friend of Cragen's." Amanda nodded and walked back out into the bullpen.

Finishing up some paperwork she stood up from her desk to give it to Fin. When she approached his desk Olivia placed the file on the tray in the corner.

"I don't want that," he smirked at her.

"Well too bad," she smirked back.

"How was dinner last night?"

"Uh, it was good. Evan and I made spaghetti and then he tried to talk me into a puppy." He laughed.

"And how'd that go for him?"

"It didn't," she stated with a smile.

"Oh c'mon Liv let the kid have a puppy," Carisi threw out from his desk.

Olivia turned to look at him. "Then you can come over to take care of the puppy _and_ Evan, I bet it'd be a real pleasure." Carisi raised his hands in mock surrender and laughed.

"Okay, good point," he said.

"That's what I thought," Olivia said before turning back to Fin to discuss business.

"Someone's supposedly coming in to give us a letter, says he's a friend of Cragen's, you and Amanda are going to talk to him, get the details, and see if we can do anything. If not I'll see if we can call in a favor with someone who has jurisdiction."

"We got it, don't worry, Liv," he smiled at her.

"I never do," she laughed as she walked back into her office. Olivia had barely made it through the door when she heard it.

"Hi, you must be Amanda, the desk Sargent said you may be able to help," Olivia froze at the voice. It couldn't be him, there was no way he would show his face here, not after how he left things.

"Yes, I'm Detective Rollins, my partner and I can speak to you in here," she said as she started to walk over to one of the rooms.

"Um, yes is the Captain in? I was hoping to speak with him," she panicked. It was him.

"Well, unfortunately, Captain Cragen has retired, but if you step back here we can talk in a room with my partner. We can go over the problem."

"God, help us all," she heard Fin say from outside her office. "Elliot freaking Stabler, what're you doing?" She is simply standing behind the only slightly closed door, lurking at the conversation about to happen. She watches the men shake hands and suddenly the room freezes as everyone becomes aware of who exactly this guy is.

Amanda walks over to the pair to keep her partner in check during the exchange knowing how loyal he was to Benson. He had been there for her in the subsequent departure of her lover and partner. Hell, he had been there when her water broke, he had a right to be upset right now as well.

Olivia can tell Elliot does not exactly know what the think of Fin's reaction. She takes in his appearance, he's aged since she last saw him. She knows she has too, but there's something off. His stance has softened since the last time she saw him, a few wrinkles are etched in his face, and facial hair has now grown across his upper lip and on his chin. The short, cropped hairstyle he had then is still there.

She continues to watch him until they disappear into the door to an interrogation room, the one with the viewing window inside her office. Well played, Fin, well played. She watches as Elliot takes in the room, but then takes a seat at the table. Olivia also watches as Fin excuses himself and quickly walks to the opposite door from where they entered and exits into her office.

When he closes the door Fin quickly realizes how frazzled Olivia is.

"Liv-," he begins.

"Fin, please, give me a second." He nods and just watches as she leans her hands against the sill of the window. He watches as she takes in a deep breath, straightens, and looks over at him. "Okay, what?"

"Are you okay?"

She scoffs as she crosses her arms over her chest looking through the window at the uninvited guest.

"He doesn't know you're here."

"Don't tell him."

"Olivia, he deserves-"

"No! He deserves nothing from me. He left not me," she's facing him now.

"You tried so long to contact him, he's here now-"

"It's too late. He's too late. So please, go see what the hell he's here for."

Fin opens his mouth to say something but closes it. She flips on the switch on the speaker but her eyes are staring a hole through the glass, watching as he takes out a bag containing the letter out of his pocket handing it to Amanda. Fin retreats back into the interview room as Amanda is reading the letter and takes a seat next to her. Rollins passes the letter to Fin and makes a quick glance to Olivia.

"When did you receive this?"

"This morning, someone taped it to my door. I put the envelope into a bag," he said passing over the other plastic bag from his coat. "Maybe you'll get fingerprints, but I'm not sure." Fin finishes reading the letter and stares at Olivia through the glass. She can tell it's not good.

"Is this the only contact?" Fin looks at the glass a second longer then looks over at Elliot.

"Um, well last week someone started calling and hanging up at random times. I thought it was just some stupid teenagers, so I switched the number three days ago." Elliot looked defeated almost. He wasn't the hard ass detective he was when he left here. Olivia sat behind the glass carefully watching every move he made.

"Do you understand what the letter means?"

"Not every part, but I got the bigger message. Whoever this is, is not my biggest fan."

"Could it be someone you put away years ago?" Amanda questions.

"I mean its possible, we pissed off a lot of people," her breathing almost stops when she says 'we'. "I wonder if Olivia got one," he whispers to himself, but she can hear him and feels her legs try to give out from under her.

"Does anyone keep contact with her? I haven't talked to her in years." Yea, years… almost _four_. Amanda turns to look at Fin who is looking at Elliot with an underlying disgust. Amanda had seen that face before and knew that it was only a matter of time. Most people couldn't understand the emotion on his face, but she could and so could Olivia.

Finally, he looks at Amanda, they share a glance then look back to Elliot.

"Yea, I do." Fin spits.

"Thank God, can you check in with her? Make sure she's okay? I would call her, but I don't think she wants to hear from me." He looks down at his hands.

"Why's that?" FIn asks innocently. She catches her breath when Fin speaks. Olivia begins to panic as Elliot freezes. Without thinking she knocks on the window twice to signal Fin he was crossing a line. All eyes are now looking at the window and she shivers when she feels the icy blue ones on her. He can't see her, but she feels as if he staring right through her.

Breaking the awkward silence Amanda stands with the letter and walks into Benson's office. She closes the door and Olivia can barely take her eyes off the window as Rollins hands her the bag. She looks down at it and begins to read.

 _If you follow the yellow brick road_

 _You will find the city of dreams_

 _But only this brick road is of concrete_

 _You will never find your dreams_

 _Only despair_

 _Sargent, Stabler_

 _Have you counted the ducks lately?_

 _Maybe you should_

 _One could go missing under the water_

 _Then only five would remain_

 _Such a shame_

 _Good luck_

She could see the paper moving and quickly realized her hand was shaking. With wide eyes, she looked up to Rollins.

"How…" Olivia can't even form the words. It's like someone is standing on her chest.

"You should call Lucy." That catches her attention and she quickly snaps out of her trance. She walks behind her desk and picks up the phone. Amanda walks back into the room and hands the letter back to Fin. "Have you called your children?"

"Yes, I called them when I got it. Kathy is taking the kids to Florida to visit her Aunt until this is cleared up. I refuse to take any more chances."

"Did you and Kathy have any more kids after Eli?" Fin presses.

"No, we divorced almost a year before I left the force, she's remarried. But that wouldn't stop someone from coming after her I guess." Suddenly Fin realizes that he thinks that six represents Kathy and their kids together. He really didn't know about Evan. He never even listened to the voicemails Olivia left for him.

"Well, we'll admit this into evidence and check to see if anyone with a grudge against you has been recently paroled or let out. Is there anyone off the top of your head that would have it out for you?" Amanda says picking up the bagged envelope as well.

Elliot raises his tired eyes to meet the young detective's. "The list goes on forever."

* * *

Both Fin and Amanda are standing in Olivia's office by the time she gets off the phone to put a detail on Lucy and Evan.

"Where are they?"

"They were at the indoor playground by the house, but they're taking a cab home as we speak. Patrol should get there when they do." Fin nodded still silent from the events at hand.

"Liv, maybe you should go home, sit with Evan," Amanda suggested knowing the worried mother wouldn't get anything done. Olivia nods but never gives a verbal response. The room is silent for a minute while Olivia walks over to her desk picking up the picture of her son.

"Does he know I'm here?"

"No," Fin shakes his head. "He doesn't even know you still work here."

She slowly nods taking in everything that's going on. "I should go home, I'll wait until Lucy gets back then go stay with him. Can you guys handle the house?"

Fin takes a step forward, "Of course, Liv, we've got this covered. You go home and make sure the little guy is okay."

Olivia turns from the photo to look him in the eye and for the first time, they realize she has silent tears slowly coming down her face. She quickly wipes them away and rushes past them to the bathroom. She is certain by the way her stomach is churning she is going to be sick. The door slams open and she barely drops to her knees before she gets sick. She barely registers the door opening and Amanda holding back her hair to keep it falling into the sickness she's expelling.


	3. Fish movies and Realization

**Hey guys, the new chapter is here.**

 **I hope you guys enjoy it!**

 **Please review!**

* * *

 _March 2011_

" _Do you love me?" He stops running his fingertips along her bare back to look at her._

" _Babe, of course, I do. Don't ever question that." They're laying in bed together and Olivia's laying on his naked chest. Elliot softly brushes the hair out of her face before leaning down to kiss her temple. They hadn't bothered to put clothes back on after their activities once they got back from dinner, knowing they wouldn't stay on long regardless._

" _Do you love me?" He says. Olivia picks up her head from his chest and is relieved to find a cocky smirk gracing his face. She makes the same smirk before responding._

" _I don't know. I'll have to think about it." He raises an eyebrow to challenge her sarcasm._

" _Oh, it's like that huh?" He sits up to grab her, flips them, trapping Olivia on the mattress under him. Elliot begins to tickle her sides as she laughs uncontrollably._

" _El! Stop!" she can barely breathe from how hard she's laughing and eventually he stops to just look at her. She stares at him while he continues to stare down at her eyes. Eventually, she averts her eyes feeling suddenly exposed._

" _What?"_

" _You're so beautiful." He leans down to kiss her lips gently, "I love you, Liv."_

" _I love you, too, El. Very much."_

 _Their lips meet once again but gently at first, quickly becoming more urgent with each movement. Before long she is moaning beneath him as he trails his kisses down her neck and across her jawline._

" _God, El," she moans when he sucks the sensitive spot behind her ear. He growls lowly in her ear, loving the noises she keeps making. Eventually, he drops his mouth to her right breast, taking the pink bud into his mouth and gently biting down. Elliot begins to slowly trace her nipple with his tongue causing Olivia to arch herself further into his mouth. She throws her head back to release a sound from her throat. "Please."_

 _His hand goes to her waist, pushing her back down to the mattress, "Patience, Liv," he whispers to her. Elliot lifts his head and begins to give the other breast the same attention he gave its twin. Her breathing is heightened by the pleasure she's receiving, but it's not what she wants. Olivia's eyes drift shut when she feels his hand brush past her upper thigh to the juncture between her thighs. She hisses when his fingers make contact with her lips._

 _He picks up his head once again to kiss her, "You're so wet, Liv," as his fingers play at her entrance._

" _El, God, please," she begs. He kisses her again as he pushes his fingers into her and catches her moan in his mouth. Her body is on fire for him and Elliot knows exactly the effect he has over her._

" _I wanna hear you, baby, say my name," he breathes in her ear. This draws another moan from her and she knows if he keeps up this talk, she won't last. Elliot kisses her cheek and removes his fingers from inside of her. Olivia sighs and opens her eyes at the loss to see him staring straight down at her again._

" _I love you, Olivia," he says to her never breaking eye contact._

" _I love you, too, Elliot." He continues to stare down at her, mesmerized._

" _El?"_

" _Yea?"_

" _Make love to me."_

* * *

Olivia finally settles her stomach enough to leave the bathroom. Rollins had left about five minutes earlier and a bottle of water now sat on Olivia's desk when she returns. The squad was now gathered inside the tiny room waiting for her.

"Liv, go home, we can hold down the fort," Amaro says. All eyes are on her as she walks further into her office. She looks over and sees Elliot still sitting in the interview room talking on the phone with a furrowed eyebrow.

"I'm going home soon, I just need to tie up some loose ends here real quick." She walks behind her desk picking up a few files to put into her bag.

"How's the Pickett case coming along?" She asks.

"Husband lands this afternoon, Rollins and I will be picking him up at the airport to deliver the news," Nick reveals. "The lab is still running the DNA."

"And the Terrance case?"

"Abusive ex-boyfriend looks good for this. Barba is getting a warrant for his DNA as we speak," Carisi stated.

"He'll just claim it's consensual, how is that going to give us a leg up? Did she make an ID?" Olivia looked over her glasses at Sonny.

"No, but that won't explain the DNA outside her bedroom window."

"Okay, fair enough, but go back see if she remembers anything else about the attack," she says putting another file into her bag. "The small things; a smell, a sound, the usual." Olivia waves her hands in a motion to signal etcetera to supplement what she was trying to say.

"Alright," Sonny nodded.

"Fin, get those bags down to the Crime Lab so they can run prints and such. Maybe we can end this before something major happens."

"Of course, Liv, anything else?"

"Yea, call down to Florida and put a patrol car on Kathy and the kids. I don't want to take chances, I want them safe."

"On it," he said heading for the door. He reaches the door and starts to speak again, "Stabler, whatcha need?"

All heads snap towards the door to see Fin trying to lead Elliot away from the door. By now she's highly aware that her dirty laundry has been exposed to her squad. They're detectives for Christ's sake, they know Evan is a three-year-old with no father and bright blue eyes. Those eyes belonged to the man who sat in their very squad room. Fin was the only one in the squad who had been blatantly told about Evan's paternity and she tried to keep it that way.

"I want to speak to your Captain," Elliot states.

"Ah, the Sargeant is busy briefing the squad. Could you come back in a bit?" She closes her eyes knowing it was all over.

"I need to speak with him, now," without warning Elliot pushes past Fin. "Sargeant, I'm sorry to interrupt-" he stops seeing all the eyes on him, but he falters seeing her.

"Olivia," he breathes. She thinks she's going to be sick again, but she Olivia pushes it down, looking up she address her detectives.

"Um, Rollins, Amaro, go take the evidence down to the lab then head for the airport," the pair nods and leaves. Nick Amaro stares down Elliot until he leaves the office. "Carisi, TARU called about those tapes, can you take care of that?" Carisi also nods and makes his way to the door.

"Fin?" Immediately Fin raises his arms in mock surrender before backing away.

"I'm gone, Liv," he quietly closes the door and leaves the pair to their conversation. They stand in silence for a few minutes before he finally speaks.

"You're Sargeant?" She nods not trusting her voice.

"Congrats, Liv, I'm happy for you," he utters before she snaps.

"Cut the shit, Stabler," she fires into the air finally finding her voice.

"Okay-"

"No, you think you get to come back here after what? Almost four years? No, don't kiss up to me," she shakes her head with a sarcastic laugh. Olivia straightens herself and finishes getting her stuff together.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yes."

"Because of me?"

"No, believe it or not, the world doesn't revolve around you," Olivia hisses.

"Okay, I get it you're pissed, you have every right to be-"

"You're damn right I do," she's staring him dead in the eye now, daring him to test her. Olivia wasn't in the mood for his lame excuses.

"-but, Liv, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that to you."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," Olivia says sarcastically. She rolls her eyes and begins to shut down her computer.

"You know what, I get it you're pissed, but hear me out. I'm trying to apologize here, Olivia. Stop being a bitch!" At this point, Elliot has had enough of her sour attitude, but she couldn't have cared less about what he thought. He abandoned her and her son, she held no ounces of grace towards him.

"Oh, I should hear you out?" she scoffs. "Just like you heard me out four years ago? I'm thinking I should do just what you did, I'm going to leave now." She picks up her bag and moves toward the door. Before she makes it he grabs her elbow and stands halfway in front of her.

"Please," he begs.

"One second, I need to make a phone call." He takes a step back as she pulls out her phone dialing an old familiar number. Olivia puts the phone to her ear keeping hard eye contact with him.

Suddenly his phone starts to ring from his pocket and Elliot's face visibly drops.

"Seems like your phone works, wow even has the same number," she laughs bitterly. "I don't owe you shit, Stabler." Olivia drops her phone back into her purse and storms out the office. Elliot doesn't bother to follow her. Fin looks up from his desk to see her walk towards the elevator, he gets up and finds Stabler still sitting in her office.

"Stabler, can't you catch a hint, man?" He's in Elliot's face practically, but Elliot doesn't move an inch. "Are you hearing me, man?" Fin was pissed now. Elliot slowly takes a few steps to Olivia's desk before Fin notices his line of sight, dread began to set into Fin's features.

Elliot reaches out a shaky hand before picking up a frame that sat on the table behind her desk.

"Leave it, Stabler," Fin warns. He silently hopes Elliot isn't close to finding out the truth. Olivia had already moved past all of this and for him to show up, ultimately bringing trouble with him, holds the potentiality to break her. Fin couldn't bear to watch her go through that kind of heartache again, especially now with Evan being as old as he is.

Fin realizes the frame contains the photo of Evan and Olivia taken at the little boy's third birthday not too long ago. In front of them sits a cake with three lit candles, Evan is sitting in his mother's lap smiling excitedly at the camera. Olivia has her arms around the giggly boy and has on a smile that beams with pride for her little boy.

"What's his name?"

"Elliot, man, don't do this," Fin pleads. Olivia would kill him and he was highly aware.

"Fin! What's his name?" Elliot is almost shouting at this point as he shows Fin the picture as if he already doesn't know which picture it is.

"Evan, his name is Evan." He sees Elliot visibly tense at the declaration of the boy's name. Fin was a dead man, now.

"Six," Fin looks at Elliot with a confused look. Six?

"Six ducks, that's what it meant, that's why everyone is really freaking out."

ILB

Hours later Olivia finds herself watching _Finding Nemo_ with Evan cuddled into her side. When she got home she was relieved to find the patrol car parked outside her building with Lucy and Noah playing blocks inside the locked apartment. After quickly explaining to Lucy the situation, she sent the girl home in a patrol car to make sure she got home safe.

Afterward her and Evan found themselves building forts, block castles, and coloring with crayons. After his bath, Evan requested they watch 'the fish movie' and that's where they'd been ever since. Olivia had opted out of cooking and was waiting on their pizza to get there.

"Mommy, why does the fish keep forgetting?"

"Because she has memory loss, bud."

"Well, that's sad." She chuckles softly at his bluntness.

"Yea, baby, it is."

"Mommy?" Evan never breaks eye contact with the movie.

"Yes, my love?"

"When is the pizza guy gonna be here?"

"Soon, kiddo, soon." He huffs slightly but continues to watch the movie contently.

Olivia looks down to brush Evan's hair from his face, he needed a hair cut, but she absolutely hated cutting his wavy locks. He was almost a year and a half old before she could make herself cut it the first time. Evan had been almost completely bald when he was first born, her co-workers joked he was the baby form of Cragen. Evan had grown into such a Stabler. He resembled his father in many ways and it gave the little boy a huge advantage when it came to certain things with his mother. Olivia found it hard to say no to him sometimes. His little eyes were a grey-blue color most of the time, but when he was excited they turned this brilliant shade of blue. Elliot's did the same thing and occasionally it knocked the breath out of her.

Her little boy meant the world to her, the thought of someone threatening Evan knocked the wind out of her. Olivia in no way regretted Evan, but she had wished he'd been born into better circumstances. Sometimes she wondered if Evan would resent her in the future for the long hours and a missing parental figure. She had tried though, she left so many voicemails for him she'd lost count.

 _The last one Olivia left was the day Evan and she returned from the hospital. She was desperately exhausted, but couldn't take her eyes off the tiny baby sleeping in his bassinet. After coming home, she sits in his room watching him sleep for about twenty minutes before she feels sobs take over her body about the situation she had put her son in. Olivia continues to cry for her son and the hurt he would feel one day when he knew the truth._

 _Olivia suddenly feels a hand loop around her and hug her close as she continues to cry her heart out. Fin silently rocked her until the exhaustion won over and Olivia had cried herself to sleep. Later that night, after changing her son's diaper she watched as he laid on her chest and began to drift to sleep._

 _Olivia picked up her phone to snap a picture of sleeping Evan, after taking the picture she continued to think about Elliot. Sighing, she picked up the phone once again to try one last time. After the subsequent rings, she heard the signal for his voicemail._

" _Hey, um- I'm sorry for constantly calling. I don't know how else to get your attention," she swallows trying to shake the trembling from her voice. "Look this is the last time I'll call you, but El, I wish you would talk to me. Things have changed, I need you-," her voice breaks and she struggles to keep it together. "Please, I'm scared," a tear falls and the baby begins to whine sensing his mother's distress._

" _I'm sorry," at this point the baby is beginning to cry as she hangs up the phone, turning her attention to patting Evan's back to calm his cries. As Olivia tenderly kisses his head she whispers, "It's okay, my love. Mommy's got you, she won't let anything ever happen to you."_

* * *

A knock interrupts her the memory and she shakes her head to clear her mind. Moving Evan onto the cushion next to her, Olivia kisses his head then stands to get their pizza. When she opens the door she sees, yes a pizza, but also Elliot Stabler. Quickly she blocks the doorway to conceal Evan from her past lover and her eyes go wide. They lock eyes and Olivia shutters when she sees the determination in them. She was screwed.

"What are you doing here?" She stutters.

"We need to talk," her eyes widen and for a second she freezes. Slowly she shakes her head.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Elliot," he inwardly smiles at the fact she says his name for the first since she'd seen him but remembers why he was there. A serious expression stays drawn upon his features as he continues to stare her down.

He notices how different she looks, almost softer in a way. Motherhood looked good on her, her hair was darker and longer now, but she was still as beautiful as ever.

"Mommy? Is that the pizza?" Before Olivia can stop him, the boy is standing next to her pulling on her shirt. Quickly, she picks up the small boy and takes him back into the apartment. "Evan, go play in your room for a second, please," she sets him on the ground and crouches next to him to kiss his cheek. He nods and takes off towards his room.

Quickly she stands, seeing Elliot has closed the door and currently standing in the hallway, but not daring to come all the way into the apartment. Fire flashes through her eyes as she storms up to Elliot, "you son of a bitch. Have you lost your mind?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure," he spits.

"What are you doing here?" Olivia demands.

"We need to talk, Olivia." She grabs the pizza from his hands and places it on the kitchen table behind her.

"We have nothing to discuss," she says not meeting his eyes.

"Oh, I think we do, anything you wanna tell me?"

"Nothing I haven't already tried to tell you, Stabler," Olivia is glaring at him now. He huffs a laugh and continues to look at her.

"What're you talking about?"

"If you have the same number, listen to your old voicemails. Now, please, leave so I can have dinner with my son." He can tell this conversation is leading nowhere and she looks as if she's about to cry so he storms out the door without so much of a word to her.

* * *

Later that night Elliot finds himself going through every voicemail he'd never checked. His phone sitting on the coffee table on speaker phone as he stares a hole through it.

" _Elliot please, call me, I love you_ ," he heard the first couple of messages, then they start to get more frantic, and then the last few she sounds broken. He continues to play them to himself as he sits alone in his apartment. Silently hating himself for everything he's done to her.

" _Hey, it's me_ ," she's crying and his heart clenches. " _Elliot, I don't know what's going on with you, but I really need you to call me. It's urgent,"_ Elliot has his head in his hands at this point, struggling to keep it together himself.

" _I don't know what to do, I-, El I-,"_ and then a pause of silence, " _forget it."_ He hears the beep signaling the end of the message and wais for the next. He waits patiently for the next one, and as soon as it starts he can hear a significant change in her voice.

" _Hey, um- I'm sorry for constantly calling, I don't know how else to get your attention"_ he hears her sigh and can tell she's exhausted. Slowly he raises his hands from his hands to stare at the phone once again. " _Look this is the last time I'll call you, but El, I wish you would talk to me. Things have changed, I need you-,"_ Olivia is crying now and the guilt continues to wash over him, he's itching for a drink but he knows better.

" _Please, I'm scared,"_ he hears something in the background and stiffens.

" _I'm sorry,_ " he hears a baby softly starting to cry through the speakers and his heart drops into his stomach. A baby, one he can only assume to be his baby. There were no denying those eyes, that little boy belonged to him. Elliot wanted to cry for his son and the pain he caused him and Olivia, but nothing came. The phone beeped once again to signal the end of all his unread messages, but he replayed the last one again just to listen to his son. He had another son, Evan, that had no idea who he was. Elliot had always tried to be a good father to his children, but at this moment he questioned everything.

Olivia must've hated him, and she had every right to, he abandoned them. God, he fucked up.


	4. Head first into reality

**Sorry, this chapter took so long to upload, school and all the things have been taking control of my life.**

 **Changed the direction of the story a bit and have since updated the summary.**

 **Keep reviewing! XOXO**

* * *

After putting Evan to bed, Olivia quietly stood in the doorway of his room watching him sleep. Her brown hair was pinned up, she had also changed into yoga pants and a sweater so she could wind down from the day's events. She took a step back into the hall just to glance at the lock on the door that she had triple checked since Elliot left. Olivia knew it was locked, but paranoia set in from the moment she came home. Leaning back against the door frame, she sighed deeply and continued to watch her son sleep. Evan looked so peaceful and her heart broke thinking of the current danger he was in. Her mistakes had brought this upon him and his little world could potentially shatter at any given point.

Some time had passed before she softly padded over to softly kiss his hair and whisper, "goodnight, my love," before turning to walk out. After cracking the door to his room, she walked into the living room to check the windows again. Being content with the security of her apartment, she finally grabbed her phone and settled on the couch.

Today had been brutal for her and quite honestly she wasn't sure on how to comprehend everything. Her old lover and partner had shown up out the blue, someone had threatened her son, and now her entire squad knew about Evan's father. Basically, today had been pretty shitty for Olivia Benson.

Olivia looked down at her phone to check the notifications. A few emails, a call from Fin, a text from Barba, and finally laid a text from an unsaved phone number. She didn't have to open the text to know who it was from, she knew that number anywhere. Olivia checked the voicemail left from Fin, who just explained they were still narrowing down a list that he would bring by in the morning for her to review. Barba had texted to check in and also to give an update about a motion pertaining to an upcoming trial.

She had deliberately waited before checking his text trying to prepare herself for whatever was about to come. Sliding her finger over the screen she opened the conversation on her phone.

Olivia, I can never express how sorry I am. I figured you would prefer this text to me showing up again. Please call me. -El

As she read the text she became conflicted on how to approach this. No matter how hard she tried to protect her son from finding out the truth, she also knew hiding the truth would also hurt him. Olivia had always wanted the best for Evan, but now it wasn't too clear about what was best. To introduce him to his potentially toxic father, or never let him know the stability of having his father. This was harder now that she actually had a choice.

* * *

Sometime later Olivia woke up still on her couch surprised she had even fallen asleep in the first place. Her phone was on her chest and she soon realized why she had woken up. Looking down at the lit up screen she saw that she'd gotten another text from Elliot.

I just want to get to know my son

Her breath caught in her throat reading the message, the relationship to her son was then validated and it was making everything even more real now. Evan was his son and not solely her's. Before she even knew what was happening she had already pressed the call button and her phone was ringing.

"Liv?" Shit, he'd actually answered for once.

"Hi," she uttered somewhat in shock.

"I didn't mean to wake you, I just really needed to tell you that."

"Ah, it's okay. I think we need to actually talk anyways. I need answers and so do you."

"I agree," he replied.

"Would you be opposed to coming now? I don't think I'll be able to sleep anyways."

"Liv, its midnight are you sure?" Quickly she took her phone from her ear to look at the time and sure enough it was a quarter past twelve. Olivia was still confused as to how she slept so long.

"I mean, I'll still come over if you want," he said quickly trying to show her he wanted to talk.

"I won't be sleeping probably, so if you are up to it my door is open."

"Okay, I'll be there in fifteen minutes," he replied quickly. "Um, just let your detail know I'm coming cause the only reason I got up last time was that of the pizza." So that was how that happened, of course.

"Okay, I'll call them. I'll see you in a minute."

"Hey, Olivia?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you," he breathed.

"Goodbye," she said trying to keep the shock from her voice.

"Bye," he hung up and swiftly got out of bed.

He pulled on a pair of old jogging pants and a blue pullover so he wouldn't freeze outside. Elliot quickly grabbed his phone, keys, and wallet before turning off the lights in his apartment. After closing and locking the door, he started his journey over to Olivia's building.

Sometime later he found himself staring at her apartment door and was trying to find the courage to knock. He was terrified of what she would do. He wanted more than anything to get to know his son, but he also understood he had dug his own hole. That day screwed up his life more ways than he would have ever imagined and it continued to haunt him to this day. He'd only gotten a glimpse of the little boy earlier, but he already felt so connected like he did when all his other children had first been born.

Finally, he got the determination to knock on her door and waited for her to open the door. A few seconds later he had come face to face with her again, but this time she was much less shocked than the prior meetings today. Olivia stepped aside to let him into the apartment, neither daring to say a word yet.

As Elliot walked into the apartment he actually took in the appearance of the space. It was much warmer and inviting than the last apartment. Various photos of her and Evan lined the walls of the foyer. He scanned each one before stepping fully into the living room. Color and photos were in heavy supply here and he could tell how much life Evan had brought into her life.

Olivia watched him taking in her living room and she was highly aware of how many photos of Evan were lining the walls of her apartment. She watched as he stepped closer to a picture taken at the park about a year ago, she had slid down the slide, per Evan's request. He had been sitting in her lap while they slid down and got a kick out of it. Fin had accompanied them that day and had snapped the photo of the pair laughing wildly at the bottom of the slide.

"I love that one," she spoke breaking the silent tension that had settled into the atmosphere.

"He looks happy," he replied.

"He is, we both are," she said. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

He shook his head still taking in the photo of her holding their son. Her windblown hair framed her face while she smiled through her laughter. Elliot thought Olivia was absolutely breathtaking. Motherhood looked damn good on her in his opinion. He then shifted his gaze back to the little boy with the brilliant blue eyes. He could see a lot of his mother in him, but the eyes there was no mistaking.

Finally, he turned his attention from the picture back to Olivia seeing she was still standing in the living room awkwardly waiting for him to focus back on the matter at hand.

"I don't know how to begin to express how sorry I am," he started. Her eyes darted downward and she began to shift uncomfortably.

Tucking a hair behind her ear she looked back to him, "I didn't think I'd ever see you again, quite honestly, I gave up hope months ago." His heart broke slightly seeing how much he had hurt her.

"Why?" she whispered as tears gathered in her eyes.

"I'm not really even sure anymore to be completely honest. At first, I told myself it was because I was trying to protect you, but after a while, I realized I was just being selfish. I killed a kid, Olivia."

"You did what you had to do, it was a good shoot," she reasoned.

"Not to me. She had come to us for help and I shot her instead-"

"She knew what she was doing when she brought that gun in-"

"You don't get it!" She raised her eyebrows at his volume and immediately he took a step back down. "I'm sorry," he said running a hand down his tired face. He bounced slightly on the ball of his feet before continuing.

"I just remember seeing you sitting with Sister Peg and watching her raise that gun again, I shot without thinking. When I ran over, it wasn't Jenna I was holding…" He took in a shaky breath to push back the tears. Olivia was trying to keep hers to herself seeing how emotional this was making him.

"It was Kathleen, I saw my daughter's face instead of her's." Olivia noticed a small tear make its way down his cheek. "And then suddenly I realized," he paused trying stay composed. "I had become who I had tried so hard to put away for years. I killed a little girl. I had become the darkness we used to fight-"

"That's not true!" Elliot looked up to see the tears streaming down her face and realized how much this affected her too.

"Why would you even think that?" Her eyes were squinted in disbelief.

"What else was I supposed to think, Olivia? This girl had come to us for justice and instead I shot her!" Silence filled the air as they both took in the atmosphere around them.

Olivia hadn't bothered to wipe away the tears as took in his words. "I'm sorry, go on…"

Elliot looked down at his hands and couldn't meet her eyes as he continued on with his story, "I went home that day and packed my stuff. I couldn't stay there, everything was dark, especially without the kids there constantly. I felt like I couldn't breathe, so I went to my mother's cottage after she passed we would use it as a vacation getaway. I just needed to get away. I couldn't face my kids… or you."

"Why couldn't you trust me?"

"It's not that I didn't trust you, I didn't trust myself. I had ruined so much, I couldn't drag you down with me as well. I couldn't do that to you," he paused for a moment to get his emotions in check.

"The moment I fired that bullet I changed, I was angry and depressed, it wasn't a good time for me. Then… I started drinking… and I couldn't stop." Olivia watched him intently as he began to relay what demons he was carrying around. She understood this hadn't been an easy road, but neither had it been for her.

"I turned my phone off for months and just drank away the time. Finally, Kathleen and Dickie showed up, they saw how I was living and forced me into rehab. I was a mess for a long time and I eventually got back on my feet, but it took a while. The kids are just now beginning to trust that I can hold true to my promise to stay sober. I had a relapse on your birthday after I got out, but that was the last time I touched the bottle. I can never fully express to you how sorry I am for what happened and how it happened, but also it was probably better I wasn't around."

Elliot raised his head to look over at Olivia sitting on the sofa, her tears dried, but her eyes still broken. He watched for some type of reaction or a hint that she would give him one other than the emotions swirling in her brown pools.

"I-I didn't know you went through that," she looked down at the blanket in her lap and played with it to keep from seeing the hurt on his face. "I'm sorry, but it wasn't a picnic for me either, El."

"I know and I'm sorry I couldn't be here when you needed me the most. I can't change it though, Olivia, I wish I could, but I can't," he whispered the last part to her as he struggled to keep the tears at bay.

"How did you find out?" He asked after a long pause.

She raised her eyebrows in shock of how blunt he was coming across about Evan. Olivia looked up from the blanket to meet his eyes, "I found out a week later, at first I thought I was late due to stress, but then I realized I was really late. I bought a test after work one day and found out I was pregnant."

"What's his full name?"

"Evan Elijah Benson." His head snapped up to look at her hard. "Don't start, I'm not in the mood," she held up her hand to emphasize her point.

"He's mine, isn't he though?"

Tears formed in her eyes as he asked her the question. It was easier to let it be assumed, but to actually say the words out loud was a struggle. To give Elliot the title of his father, out loud and into the air was a struggle since the day she found out she was pregnant. Fin was the first to know and it almost killed her to tell him, the guys at work had known and Casey, but other than that it was all assumptions based on rumors.

"Olivia…"

"Yes, he is your son." A few tears escaped her eyes as she softly claimed Elliot as her son's father.

"Why isn't he a Stabler then?" Olivia cocked her head to the side and was trying to process why he thought was a valid question.

"Excuse me?"

"His last name is-"

"Benson, I'm aware. I was there when he was born, I think I would know his last name," she spat.

"Why?" Her eyes were wide with bewilderment at this point.

'Why? I'll tell you why. Because when I found out I was pregnant, I was alone. When I went to pick out furniture, I was alone. And when my precious baby was born, it was me who sat with him when he cried. Not you, me. You don't get that claim over him, he is my child, my baby!" Olivia was almost yelling at this point.

"That doesn't give you the right-"

"You son of a bitch," she stood from her seat on the couch and stood in front of him. "Rights? Do you think you have any rights in this? Well, I got news for you, Stabler," at this point they were both standing on either end of the couch, challenging one another.

"He is still my son! You took that from me! I will never know what it was like to know him as a baby, and I have you to thank for that!"

"No… you have yourself to blame. I didn't make you leave, I tried! What else did you want from me?"

Elliot went to open his mouth, but couldn't seem to find the words.

"That's what I thought," her bottom lip was quivering from both rage and tears. Silent tears streamed down her face as they held each other's gaze.

"Liv-"

"Mama?" Olivia snapped her head to the little boy standing in the hallway. Quickly, she wiped her cheeks and moved around the couch to pick him up.

"Hey, baby, did we wake you?"

Evan nodded, hiding his head within Olivia's neck once he was settled on her hip.

"I'm sorry, baby. I promise we won't be loud anymore."

"Why is that man yelling?" Evan whispered pointing towards Elliot.

"We were just talking really loud," she replied.

"I'm sorry, Evan, I didn't mean to wake you," Elliot said from the behind the couch, earning himself a glare from Olivia.

"Let's go back to bed, Mr. Elliot was just leaving."

"Olivia-"

"Elliot, no." She said softly and shook her head. He didn't say another word but simply left the apartment. Olivia locked the door and started down the hallway towards Evan's room. Gently laying him on his bed, she began tucking him back in.

"Mama, was that my daddy?" Olivia felt a blow to her chest and looked at Evan startled.

"Why do you ask that, my love?"

"You told him I was his son, I heard you guys talking about it."

"Evan, it's not polite to listen to adult conversations," she scolded slightly trying to buy time on how to explain this to him. After a slight pause, she figured the truth was the best way out of this.

"Yes, Evan, Mr. Elliot is your father."

"Why was he not here?"

"He's been sick for some time now, he just got better and he is working on getting stronger. Can you understand that, my love?"

"Does he love me, mama?"

"Yes, baby, he loves you so much… and so do I."

"I love you, too, mama."

* * *

The next day, Olivia woke up to the sunlight pouring into the window and she quickly sat up realizing that Evan had yet to wake her up. Looking over at her nightstand to grab her phone, she realized she must have left it in the kitchen last night. Instead, she looked at the time displayed on the TV sitting on her dresser. It was well past 9 am and Evan was always up at this time no matter what. Olivia's mind began to race as she burst into the hallway, but stopped hearing her son's laughter in the kitchen.

Slowly, she made her way into the kitchen, to see Evan at the bar with a bowl of cereal. He couldn't do that by himself…

Olivia turned to see a man standing behind the sink chatting with Evan. "Hey, look, Mommy decided to join us," the man said smirking at her. Olivia could feel the color draining from her face realizing who was standing in her kitchen. Jacob Klein, a notorious serial rapist she and Elliot had put away years ago, was now standing in front of her. This man had been gruesome to his victims and had somehow twisted a story to where he only got five years. This guy was never even on her radar about the letter, he had never been threatening, but she did always get a disturbing vibe from him.

She saw him reach his hand to lift his shirt slightly to show her the gun tucked into the waistband of his pants. They locked eyes and then she saw her phone peeking out of his front pocket.

"Mommy! You waked up." Evan said excitedly from his seat at the counter. She made her way towards him and picked him out of his chair.

"Yea, baby, that's right. Why don't you go into your room and change out of your PJs, okay bud?" She suggested

"But, I'm still eating my food," he whined.

"Evan, now!" She walked behind him to the hall, keeping a careful eye trained on Jacob.

"Wow, Olivia, motherhood suits you." Goosebumps appeared as she felt his eyes racking down her body.

"It's Sergeant Benson, how did you get in here?"

"Promoted and right down to business, I see," he said laughing. Jacob took a small step to tower over her. "I don't share my secrets, Olivia." Grabbing the gun from his waistband, he placed the barrel close to her chin.

"You look good, Olivia," he said tucking a piece of hair behind her hair. When she flinched away from him he grabbed a fistful of hair to keep her head near his. "Now, now, I gave you a compliment, mind your manners."

She simply glared at him, but eventually gave in to try and prevent him from getting more upset, "Thank you."

"There we go. Now, I'm going to let you go, but any funny business and your precious boy is dead. Do we understand ourselves?"

"Yes," she whispered and he slowly let go her hair.

"Now, go change into something warmer we're going on a trip."

"Where?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, huh?" He replied maliciously. "Now, I'm not going to repeat myself." Slowly she nodded and slipped into her bedroom with Klein following close behind.

Going to her closet she grabbed something to change into and set it on the bed. "Can I get a little bit of privacy?"

"Privacy? Why? Nothing I won't see in the near future, darling," she shuttered at his threat and didn't even bother to reply. As she stripped out of her clothes she could feel his eyes on her but refused to give him the satisfaction of looking at him. Keeping her back to him, she put her bra on underneath the shirt she had slept in and then went to put the clean shirt on. After her shirt was on, she grabbed the thick cardigan putting it on her shoulders. She wanted layers in case she could leave something behind or it got really cold or warm.

"Klein, if you leave now I promise, they won't know you were here. Just leave before you do something that cannot be undone," she said confidently trying one last time to understand what was going on.

"Oh, it's way too late for that, hun." He snickered and walked over to her window and peered out past the curtain. "Your detail?"

He paused slightly, "He's dead, so we have a few hours before anyone realizes."

Olivia stiffens at his confession and realizes he's still up to his old tricks.

"So, finished getting dressed. We need to leave soon."

"Let me go get Evan ready," she went to move before he spoke.

"No, you don't need to worry about that." Olivia stopped to look at him, trying to understand what he meant. Klein walked over to her clicked on the handcuffs on one hand before she knew what was happening.

"He's not coming with us," suddenly she began to panic. They couldn't leave Evan by himself, anything could happen, he's only three. "Please," she whispered and as he grabbed her other hand she began to fight back hard.

Olivia quickly kneed him and as he fell to the ground then rushed to Evan's room, locking the door behind her. Frantically she ran over to him on the floor and picked him up, kissing his head.

"Hey, sweet boy, I need you to listen to me okay?" His eyes looked curiously in hers as she heard Klein try to open to the door, yelling.

"Mommy, has to go okay?" He nodded. "But, I can't take you right now, so I need you to be a big boy, okay, can you do that for me?"

"Yes, mama," he said starting to get scared.

"When mommy leaves go to Miss Julie's door and tell her to call Uncle Fin, okay?"

"But, why mama?"

"Tell Uncle Fin mommy had to go with Jacob Klein okay baby?"

"Olivia!" Klein was pounding on the door outside and was very close to knocking it down.

"Tell me, love, what are you doing?"

"Mama, I'm scared." Evan began to tear up and involuntarily shake in her arms.

"I know, baby, but please tell me," she pleaded.

"When you leave, go get Miss Julie to call Fin and tell him you went with Jacob Klein?"

"Perfect, baby," she said kissing his head. The door slammed open and both mother and son flinched. Olivia wrapped her arms tighter around her son and breathed in his scent.

"I love you so much, Evan."

"Olivia put the kid down," Klien said pointing the gun towards them. She looked over should and tearfully whispered, "please."

"No, the place we're going isn't suitable for children," he said laughing.

"Okay, let me just put him down," she replied softly as she knelt down to place Evan on the ground.

"Baby, I love you, everything is going to be okay. Please, don't cry," she whispered wiping his tears.

"Don't lie to him, Olivia," Jacob spat. She glared at him from her position but placed her attention back to her son.

"Be good, baby," she said before placing a soft kiss on his forehead.

"Mama, don't go. Please," he begged, reaching for her again.

"I have to," she said trying to stop her own tears.

"No! Mama, please! I'm scared."

"I know, I know, my love. Please, if I could stay I would. Mommy, has to go, but you be a big boy and be good, okay?" When he started crying again she took into a hug and kept kissing the top of his head.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too, mama," he cried.

"It's time to go," Klein barked and moved to grab Olivia from her son. She tried to fight him off, but he grabbed her cuffed hand and started to drag her from Evan.

"Mommy, no!"

"Please, don't do this!" She pleaded as he somehow continued to drag her down the hall away from her son's desperate screams.

When they got to the living room she found footing and stood quickly throwing a punch. "Bitch," he cried as she made contact.

He grabbed the handcuff that was still attached to one arm and pulled her back before she could take off. Throwing her to the ground, he straddled her waist grabbing both arms and locking them together. As he held her arms down and pinned her legs together, he placed the gun to her temple.

"Are we done playing games?"

Evan had now come to stand in the doorway from the hallway and was silently watching the pair. Klein looked up to see him and then looked back down at Olivia.

"Or should I start here and let him watch?" Frantically she began to buck and yell before he set the gun down to clamp his hand over her mouth to silence her. Evan was crying again but stood frozen in his place.

"You would think you'd get the hint by now," Klein spat while biting her earlobe and kissing her neck. Olivia wanted to kill him for doing this in front of her son, he didn't need to see this. After a second she stopped fighting and his attack ceased soon after.

"There we go, now, I'm going to let you up and you're going to go willingly or baby boy gets a bullet. Understood?"

Slowly she nodded and he did what he said. When he grabbed her from the ground, Evan tried to walk over.

"Don't move!" Jacob yelled at Evan and he froze again with tears streaming down his reddened face.

"I'm done with all this," he said before he reared back and hit Olivia over the head with the gun making her go limp in his arms. A trickle of blood ran down the side of her face as even began to wail at the sight of his mother.

* * *

oooooh, suspenseful cliff hanger...


	5. Latch

**Here's another update! Thank you for the reviews and love, I really appreciate it!**

 **Reminder- I don't own anything...**

 **anddddd here we go...**

* * *

Julie Sanders was making her way around the house cleaning, while her boyfriend was off at the grocery store getting stuff for lunch. Her parents were coming over later that day to finally meet her boyfriend of six months and she wanted everything to go perfectly.

She heard the door open and Collin calling out for her, "Hey, Jules, guess who I found in the hall."

She walked out of the kitchen to find Collin, with little Evan sitting on his hip. His eyes and cheeks were red as silent tears made way down his face.

"Oh, buddy, what's wrong?" She looked worriedly over at Collin before taking the young boy from him.

"He kept just saying 'need Miss Julie', let me go get the bags out of the hall and tell Olivia he's here." She nodded to him as he went into the hall to get the groceries and things. She walked into the living room setting Evan down on the couch and moved to sit on the coffee table to face him.

"Buddy, why are you crying?"

"Mommy," he whispered tearfully.

"Collin went to get your mommy, okay?" Julie was slightly worried, she knew Olivia was a cop and would never let Evan just leave the apartment. She had babysat for Olivia a couple of times when the Nanny had taken time off or they would simply just chat on occasion.

"Hafta call Uncle Fin," a look of confusion etched itself into her face.

"Did your mommy say this?" The little boy nodded silently. A second later, Collin came into the living, setting the bags on the ground.

"Babe, can I see you in the kitchen?" She looked over at him and he looked nervous. Turning her attention back to Evan she said, "I'll be right back, okay?"

Evan started to cry again but nodded anyway. She ruffled his hair and quickly walked into the kitchen.

"Something's wrong, Olivia wouldn't let Evan just run the halls, the kid is shaken up," she said grabbing her phone to call Olivia.

"Julie, I think you need to call the police," she snapped her head up and looked at him hard. "The door was wide open, no sign of Olivia, but the place was trashed. I saw blood."

* * *

Everyone was racing around the squad room trying to set up for their newest task. Sergeant Olivia Benson had been kidnapped while Evan was left alone in the apartment. They had different things pinned to several different bulletin boards varying from crime scene photos, to places possible suspects, and an official NYPD photo of Olivia.

"Nick, pull up Liv's financials. Carisi, finish putting these things up," Fin barked around the squad room handing some photos to Sonny. Every officer in the squad was doing some task in order to have enough manpower to hunt down the perp who kidnapped Olivia. Fin kept watching the door knowing Olivia's neighbors would be there soon with Evan.

He suddenly heard crying from the hall and realized it was Evan, once Julie and Collin appeared startled in the entryway. He waved them through, "if you could follow me this way, please."

"Uncle Finny!" Evan frantically screamed from Julie's arms and launched himself toward the man. Fin quickly grabbed the boy from Julie and took in his appearance. Looking him up and down he realized he hadn't been hurt in the ordeal. "Rollins, if you'll take the Sanders into the interview room please," Fin requested.

"Hey, you're okay let's go in here," Fin said trying to calm Evan. He hurriedly was walking towards the children interview room to get Evan out of the madness. The faster he got in there the better.

Once inside, Fin placed Evan down and kneeled in front of him to check him over once more. "Are you hurt?"

The boy silently shook his head no.

"Buddy, if you'll hold on one second, I have to make a phone call, okay?" Evan just looked at Fin and his bottom lip quiver. "I'll be right here, little man, I promise."

Fin stood and walked over to the corner of the room before pulling out his phone to make the call.

"Hello?"

"He struck," was all Fin said into the phone.

"Oh God, what happened?" He could hear the phone rustle a bit.

"He broke into Olivia's apartment, she's gone."

"Where's Evan?" Elliot asked shocked. He knew there had been a threat, but he still couldn't believe this had happened.

"He was found in the hallway outside the neighbor's door. I'm about to interview him," Fin stated simply, looking over at Evan who was staring him down to make sure he wasn't leaving.

"Okay, has he said anything yet?"

"He's barely talked, but Elliot, to interview him I need parental consent." The line was silent for a few seconds before Elliot finally replied.

"I'll be down there in a minute, just do it." Elliot hung up the phone and Fin walked back to Evan once he slid his phone back into his pocket.

"Hey, little man, I need to talk to you, okay?"

"Okay," the little boy whispered. Fin sat across from Evan in the other chair.

"What happened today?"

"I woke up this morning and the man was in Mama's room."

"What man?"

Evan shrugged and starting swinging his little legs. "He never told me. He made me breakfast, so mama could sleep. When mama woke up she was mad and made me go change in my room. When she came back she hugged me and the man was yelling. She told me to run to Julie's and to call you. He took her to the living room and mama was crying. He hit mama," Evan started crying again.

"What else happened?"

"The man took Mommy with him, she said she had to go and to tell you she went with Jacob." Fin looked over at the two way mirror then back over to Evan.

"Jacob?" Fin confirmed with the boy.

"That's what mama said."

"You're doing so great, little man."

After running the name over her list of case files they had a list made up of six possible people. They put each of their mugshots on the table in front of Evan, "Bud, do you see the man that was at your house this morning?"

Evan scanned over each page before picking one up, studying it for a minute longer he points to the mugshot containing Jacob Klein "him". Fin's stomach dropped recalling the case from years prior.

"Are you sure?" Fin said just for clarification.

"Yes, that's him," he whispered.

* * *

Elliot burst into the squad room looking for someone to help him. He spotted Carisi and remembered seeing him in Olivia's office the other day.

"Where's Evan?" He asked frantically. Carisi looked up from his task and it instantly remembered the man, Olivia's former partner.

"Fin has Evan in Interview right now, here let's take a seat here and I'll let him know you're here," he said gesturing towards the chair next to his desk.

"Okay," Elliot said as Carisi rushed off towards the hallway. Everyone seemed to be in a frantic mess to get everything set up. It was one of their own this time, and specifically their leader who had gone missing. It was all hands on deck around here.

Elliot took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose trying to grasp reality in the situation. Olivia has been taken, but their son has been left behind. The note had been geared toward the children, why take Olivia? A lot of things were throwing him off about this whole case.

Suddenly, Amaro was standing in front of him clearing his throat. Elliot stood and both men shook hands.

"Nick Amaro, I've heard a lot about you," Amaro said, not indicating whether they had been good or bad.

"Elliot Stabler, it's nice to meet you officially," Elliot replies.

"If you'll follow me, we'll go somewhere more private," Elliot nodded and followed Nick into Olivia's office.

The blinds over the windows were closed to the office and to the interview room which he had sat in the other day. Nick shut the door and gestured for Elliot to sit in the chair in front of the office. Nick sat on the corner of the desk and opened up the file.

"How's Evan?" Elliot demanded.

"He's fine, physically. He is upset, but that's understandable," Nick explained.

"What happened?"

"According to Evan, a man was there when he woke up. Olivia was asleep so he took him into the other room. Once Liv woke up she told Evan to go into his room and then she came in sometime later. It appears that the man had broken down the door and there were drag marks in the hallway. He drags her into the living room and knocked her unconscious. After we talked to Evan again, he said that Olivia told him she had to go with someone named Jacob and that once they were gone he needed to go get their neighbor, Julie Sanders. No one has seen her since," Nick relayed. Elliot's face was filled with a mix of anxiety and fear. He didn't say a word and Nick continued.

"We pulled up mugshots from cases pertaining to a Jacob. Evan IDed this man," Amaro handed over a photo to Elliot.

Elliot studied the photo for a second before looking back up at Nick, "That's Jacob Klein, we investigated him for serial rape. He had a good lawyer was only convicted for assault, I think. This is who Evan saw in the apartment?" Nick confirmed with a nod.

"Shit," Elliot hissed. "This guy, he's ruthless, doesn't care about anything."

"Well, were drawing her financials up right now and we're trying to get a ping on her cell phone. When was the last time you talked to Olivia?"

"I went over last night," Stabler said softly earning a curious glance from the younger detective sitting in front of him. Amaro straightens up interested in how this had gone down.

"Okay, what time was that?"

"I came once around 6 or 7, then later that night Liv called me to talk. I got there around 12:45 then left by 1:20 ish."

"You didn't stay very long," Amaro accuses.

"We, uh, got into a fight. Evan woke up so I left," Elliot was wringing his hands together to avoid Nick's hard gaze.

* * *

Fin carried Evan out of the interview room and went towards Olivia's office knowing she kept some of Evan's toys in there in case he had to sit up here. His heart broke for the little boy. His entire world had been turned upside down and he feared for the little boy.

Walking into the office he saw Nick sitting on the edge of Olivia's desk with Elliot seated in front of him. The pair looked over at him and Evan, who was resting his head on Fin's shoulder tired from crying.

"Sorry to interrupt, I was going to grab a few things," Fin said moving around to the back of Olivia's desk.

"Snack?" Evan whispered to Fin, his voice hoarse from crying.

"Are you hungry little man?" Evan nodded timidly. Fin looked at the boy for a minute longer before sighing softly. It was almost noon, he figured the boy was probably ready for lunch.

"I can take him to get lunch," Elliot piped up startling everyone in the room.

Nick and Fin both looked to Stabler quickly surprised he had even let the thought cross his mind.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Nick said to Elliot standing up from the desk. Fin looked down at the boy and back to Elliot.

"Yea, I'm not sure how Liv would feel about that," Fin agreed.

"He can't stay in a police station all hours, he needs some food and a nap. Olivia and I spoke some last night about it," Elliot reasoned.

"Does he know?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Elliot told Fin. He seemed to be considering the offer, although Stabler wasn't his first option and he wanted to be able to watch over the little boy, Olivia needed him on her case. Evan didn't need to be here for that, not at his age.

"You can't be considering this," Amaro said breaking his inner debate.

"Do you have any better ideas? He's right, Evan doesn't need to be up here," Fin argued.

"He doesn't even know Evan!" Evan cowered into Fin's neck at Nick's loud comment. Immediately sensing Evan's discomfort he backed down, but still stood by his statement.

"I don't think he could be any safer than with Elliot," Fin said shocking both Amaro and Elliot. Elliot looked to Fin and nodded thankfully.

He had a point, Evan deserved to be safe and well looked after. If he stayed at the squad room he would only distract from the case or not get the full attention he deserved. Evan was already out of it and needed someone to help ease the trauma of seeing his mother kidnapped from his mind. Elliot was, in fact, his father and could offer the most stability at the moment.

"Can you both step out while I talked to Evan?" Fin asked. Both men nodded and quietly left the office shutting the door. Fin picked Evan off his hip and sat him on the desk.

"Hey buddy, can we talk for a second?" Evan silently nodded. He had hardly talked other than when questioned and it was very out of sorts for the Benson-Stabler son.

"My friend, Elliot, is going to get you some lunch, okay?"

"Why not you?"

"Because Uncle Fin has to work so we can find your mommy, okay?"

"I miss mama," Evan said softly.

"I know you do, I miss her too. Have you met Elliot before?"

"Mommy says his name is Mr. Elliot, he is my daddy." Fin was shocked to hear this, he didn't think Olivia had told him about Elliot.

"When did she tell you that?"

"I heard them yelling last night, I asked mama when she tucked me in," Evan looked up at his uncle with his stormy blue eyes.

"Okay, I'm going to introduce you, is that okay?"

"I guess so," Evan muttered. Fin smiled at the boy's cooperation and waved Elliot in through the glass door.

As Elliot came in Fin turned to Evan, "Evan, this is my friend Elliot," Elliot smiled softly at the little boy nervous as ever.

"Evan, it's nice to meet you. You're a pretty big boy, how old are you 13?" Evan smiled at the joke.

"No, silly, I'm three!" Evan held up three fingers and Elliot pretended to be shocked for the sake of first impressions.

"No way!" Fin had to hand it to Elliot, he was pretty good at the whole kid thing. Having five kids at home seemed to help, but he was quite frankly a natural.

"Is it okay if I take you to get some lunch?" Evan looked nervously over at Fin who gave him a reassuring smile.

"That sounds like fun, doesn't it?" Fin encouraged. Evan looked back to Elliot as if he was surveying him.

"Can-can we get nuggets?" Evan asked timidly.

Elliot laughed at the request, "Yes, of course. Is McDonald's okay with you, bud?" Evan nodded and seemed to ease a little bit.

"Can I pick you up?" Evan nodded slightly again and then reached towards Elliot. The father picked up his son for the first time and emotional started to take over. He sniffed back his tears so he wouldn't make Evan uncomfortable, but this didn't go unnoticed by Fin.

"Thank you," he whispered to Fin.

"Don't make me regret this, Stabler," Fin warned lowly.

"You won't." Turning to Evan he smiled and bounced the boy slightly, " you ready?"

"Yes," he said nodding now excited with the promise of nuggets.

* * *

The first thing Olivia noticed as she woke was a splitting headache. The room wasn't bright enough to send her over the edge, but with how bad her head hurt any light would hurt. She moved to bring her hand up to her head and quickly realized they were still cuffed together.

After closing her eyes to for a moment to gather herself, she finally started to recall the events the day had brought. Sitting up slightly she began to take in her surroundings. The room was a basic looking basement with no windows, but dim lights on the ceiling. The concrete floors and the chipped white paint on the walls completed the prison type feel that took over the room. She was sitting on a full-size bed which was placed in the furthest corner from the door. Looking down, she was relieved to find her clothes still intact and no signs of foul play.

"Relax, I don't like my girls limp," she flinched seeing Klein standing from a separate doorway to what she assumed was a bathroom or a closet of some sort. From her position on the bed, she just glared at him.

"Oh, now you're quiet? I'm shocked," he said coming towards the bed slowly.

"Why am I here?"

"That's an excellent question, but also I feel like it's pretty self-explanatory given our history," Klein smiled a sickly sweet smile and was now sitting on the edge of the bed. Olivia scooted towards the wall and Klein laughed a bit. "Yea, hold on to your dignity while you can, Olivia."

"What do you want?" She spat getting annoyed.

"Revenge, I've heard it's served cold, but I prefer mine to be warm," he said sliding a hand onto her leg.

Jerking her leg away, Olivia retaliated, "don't you touch me."

In an instant, Klein grabbed her thigh and pulled her over to him on the bed. His other hand shot out to secure her hands that were fighting him off.

"You don't have authority here, Benson," he spat in her face. "No one can hear you, no one will be looking for you here," she continued to struggle against him and yelling out for anyone at this point.

"Shut up, bitch!" He quickly backhanded her with the hand that had been gripping her thigh. Olivia's head whipped to the side and all efforts to fight him had stopped being stunned by the slap. Looking back up to him, he saw that a small cut had appeared on her cheek.

"Now, you're going to be a good girl for me, aren't you?"

"Burn in hell, you son of a bitch," she spit out the blood that had accumulated inside her mouth. Painfully slow he wiped his face not once looking at her. Klein seemed too calm and that alone sent chills down Olivia's spine.

"I see," he said. "That how it's going to be?"

She just glared at him in response not knowing exactly what to say. In the next instant, he was on top of her his mouth next to her ear. Olivia began to struggle in his hold, but couldn't seem to wiggle out of his hold.

"Let me make something clear, sweetheart, you are at _my_ mercy. I can make your life hell if that's what you want," he whispered into her ear. "So, unless you want to end up like your kid I suggest you think a little more carefully about how you act."

All the blood drained from her face at the mention of Evan, what had he done? She stopped struggling completely as dread began to set in. Slowly he leaned back on his calves but kept her hands restrained so she couldn't get free.

"Wh-what?" tears were evident in her voice no matter how hard she tried to conceal them. Klein didn't bother answering her but simply smiled down at her, reaching into his back pocket he pulled out a zip tie. Moving her hands towards the headboard she began to struggle against him.

"No! What did you do to my son?" Olivia yelled fighting back. "Tell me! What did you do?"

"Shut up," he hissed securing her hands to the railing with the zip tie, the cuffs other little movement but not much. His hands reached up her shirt as tears filled her eyes.

"Please, stop, tell me about Evan," she pleaded. Klein ignored her pleas and continued sliding his hands up her shirt. Olivia squeezed her eyes shut as his hands groped her breasts over her bra. She turned her head away and kept her eyes closed until she felt Jacob grab her face, forcing her to look at him.

"Open our eyes, bitch," he spat. "You're gonna wanna remember this."

* * *

 **Keep an eye out for chapter six! REVIEW REVIEW**


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